Murder defendant describes slain stepmother, family problems

Robert Dennis Dixon took the stand Thursday in his capital murder trial. He is accused of killing his stepmother, Sara Dixon, in 2007.

Sam Roberts / Times-News

By Michael D. Abernethy / Times-News

Published: Friday, September 27, 2013 at 06:34 PM.

GRAHAM — The defendant in a capital murder trial remained on the stand, questioned by his defense attorney, for the entire court day Friday.

Robert Dennis Dixon spent the majority of six hours on the witness stand describing the Dixon family history. Under questioning by defense attorney Terry Alford, Dixon’s demeanor and testimony sometimes teetered on the bizarre.

Dennis Dixon, 49, testified that his stepmother, Sara Dixon, upset him when she placed his father in a nursing home in 2005. Because of that placement, his father’s estate began being sold by a third-party administrator to pay for medical bills.

Dennis Dixon admitted he was “mean” toward his stepmother in emails he sent the estate administrator and said he regretted sending them.

Alford showed the jury a note handwritten by the defendant about people who are “imposters” and who “fake emotions” to get what they want. The note references “black widows” and wives who kill husbands for money, “slowly and methodically taking care of business.” Dennis Dixon testified he wrote that note after reading a magazine article and thought it would help his attorney fight Sara Dixon in a planned lawsuit.

GRAHAM — The defendant in a capital murder trial remained on the stand, questioned by his defense attorney, for the entire court day Friday.

Robert Dennis Dixon spent the majority of six hours on the witness stand describing the Dixon family history. Under questioning by defense attorney Terry Alford, Dixon’s demeanor and testimony sometimes teetered on the bizarre.

Dennis Dixon, 49, testified that his stepmother, Sara Dixon, upset him when she placed his father in a nursing home in 2005. Because of that placement, his father’s estate began being sold by a third-party administrator to pay for medical bills.

Dennis Dixon admitted he was “mean” toward his stepmother in emails he sent the estate administrator and said he regretted sending them.

Alford showed the jury a note handwritten by the defendant about people who are “imposters” and who “fake emotions” to get what they want. The note references “black widows” and wives who kill husbands for money, “slowly and methodically taking care of business.” Dennis Dixon testified he wrote that note after reading a magazine article and thought it would help his attorney fight Sara Dixon in a planned lawsuit.

“You felt that way about Sara?” Alford asked.

“To a degree, yes,” Dennis Dixon replied.

Dennis Dixon is accused of hiring men to kill Sara Dixon. She was found slain in her home at 2033 McCray Road on Nov. 30, 2007. He is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree burglary. He could face the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree murder.

When he took the stand Thursday, he denied any involvement in plotting or committing Sara Dixon’s murder. For some time Friday, he detailed his interaction with co-defendant Thomas Clay Friday on Nov. 28, 2007 — the date the co-defendant testified he and Matthew Devon Fields, 25, killed Sara Dixon. Dennis Dixon said he and Friday used a trailer to move a car from a body shop to 2049 McCray Road where Dennis Dixon lived.

Alford questioned him extensively about Cardwell Dixon’s alleged misgivings shortly after he and Sara Dixon were married in 1987. A handwritten letter by Cardwell Dixon in 1988 expressed his displeasure at Sara Dixon not keeping an agreement that she would sell her old house and help pay for the house they built together on McCray Road. She sold her house, but Cardwell never saw that money and she never helped pay for the house or the bills, the document said.

Cardwell Dixon mentioned the financial issues to his sons, Dennis Dixon said. But they tried to stay out of their father’s business and Dennis Dixon said he didn’t dislike his stepmother.

Over the years, the relationship with his stepmother soured.

Cardwell Dixon planned to divorce Sara Dixon, Dennis Dixon said. Immediately after Cardwell Dixon had several strokes in December 2004, Sara Dixon moved to take control of him and his property, Dennis Dixon testified. She later placed him in a nursing home, which Dennis Dixon said his father hated and called a “concentration camp.”

Dennis Dixon said he and his brother’s family felt helpless to get their father out of the nursing home. The “strained relationship” with his stepmother spilled over into statements he made to many people.

“I let everybody know everything that’s going on in my life. I wear my heart on my sleeve, I guess,” Dennis Dixon said of those statements.

Dennis Dixon admitted to saying he “would pay $5,000 to smoke her ass” when discussing Sara Dixon with Friday and James Blaylock in July 2007. He said the remark about the payment and amount was “just an expression” he commonly uses.

THROUGHOUT THE DAY Friday, Dennis Dixon’s testimony often diverged from direct answers, digressing into the minutiae of interactions with his father and others. Alford sometimes had to stop his client mid-sentence and direct him to answer the question. Several times, Alford reminded Dennis Dixon to slow down and speak clearly for the jury. Twice, Dennis Dixon asked to elaborate on his answer about the family history and Alford told him not to.

He added asides and colorful descriptions to his testimony, describing a gathering as looking like “a country music video with everyone parked in the yard” and comparing his camper to one Mel Gibson’s character had in a “Lethal Weapon” movie.

At one point, the jury was shown a photo of one of Dennis Dixon’s cars he testified that Friday repaired for him. In the photo, someone’s hand is on the bumper.

“Hey, get your hands off my bumper,” Dennis Dixon said under his breath, drawing looks from Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III and several others in the courtroom.

Dennis Dixon will continue testifying at 9:30 a.m. Monday in the superior courtroom of the Alamance County Historic Courthouse.